Chapter 33

Billion looked sheepish at Adolf’s question.

“Is it not my duty to protect the heir of this household? Hahaha.”

Billion laughed boisterously, speaking with lips glistening from the sesame oil he had been enjoying frequently lately thanks to Ramona.

“Your words are as slick as your face. Did you perhaps drink a bowl of olive oil before coming here?”

“No, actually, I’ve practically coated my internal organs with sesame oil.”

Unable to say that, Billion simply maintained his smile.

“Since you’ve been there, report to me. How are my son and grandson faring?”

“They are eating very well and living very well.”

Adolf’s eyebrows shot up at the brief, one-line report. At his look, which demanded to know if he was joking, Billion cleared his throat and expanded his explanation as much as possible.

“They truly eat and sleep well. And… I encountered Sir Zenon. Lady Ramona, who is currently looking after the Young Lord, has taken Sir Zenon as his swordsmanship instructor…”

Before Billion could even finish his report, Adolf leaped to his feet.

“What? You mean he met Freire?”

“Yes. Thanks to Lady Ramona, their paths crossed.”

Adolf ran a rough hand through his hair at the news of his foster brother, who had vanished after asking never to be found. Adolf never imagined that his foster brother—who had claimed to be disillusioned and weary of a knight’s life of killing—would be living so close by.

“He wouldn’t even look back when I begged him not to leave… yet he’s teaching my grandson. How ironic.”

A faint smile brushed Adolf’s lips at the thought that he could visit and meet him anytime now that he knew he lived nearby.

“Is it not a case of coincidence turning into fate?”

“Indeed, you are right. By that logic, that woman is a blessing. She took in and raised my grandson, enabled us to find Freire… and she’s even feeding and housing my incompetent son.”

“Your Grace is entirely correct.”

Billion refrained from mentioning that she was currently feeding not just the son, but also the knights who were supposed to have moved past the title of ‘Secret.’

***

The food stores gathered in autumn ran out long before the barley and wheat could be harvested. It was the height of the “barley hump”—the spring lean season—where hunger was a common companion.

“What did you do with the money you earned from working…?”

Adrian asked with a slight frown as he watched Cain, a middle-aged man he had befriended while working on the city walls, fill his growling stomach with nothing but water. Even if a day’s wages couldn’t buy a large slab of beef, it should have been enough to buy food to stave off hunger.

“What else? I’ve spent it all already. We don’t even have a tiny patch of land to harvest grain from. So even though my wife works in other people’s fields and I do this labor, the price of grain has risen so much during this season…”

Cain let out a grin, trailing off as he gulped down water from his canteen. He explained that he had to hand over his well-tended fields due to his father’s gambling debts and had practically begged his wife not to divorce him.

“Still, we’re lucky this year. If not for this wall project, there’d be no work, and we might have starved to death. Last year was extreme; we were down to one meal every two days.”

Adrian had heard stories of commoners’ lives from soldiers during the war, but he had never truly felt the reality of it. Seeing their impoverished lives firsthand made him hang his head. To these people, the authorities were likely nothing more than thugs who collected taxes from their meager existence.

“If I had even a little bit of land, I’m confident I could farm well… but losing it all in an instant to those gambling debts left me hollow. Living is hard enough, but there are too many places where money just bleeds out.”

“Is it because the taxes are too high?”

“No. To be honest, we know Duke Cassius set the tax rates lower than other nobles. It’s just that there’s little work, and with the debts… ahem.”

Seeing Cain trying to comfort himself by saying he wasn’t desperate enough to steal yet, Adrian handed him half of the sandwich Ramona had packed for him.

“Please, have some of this. You have to lift heavy stones; you won’t have strength if you fill your stomach with just water. If you slip, I might be the one crushed underneath.”

“Hey now! Don’t you worry, lad. No matter how tired I get, I won’t go rolling stones onto you. Hahaha! Seeing this sandwich makes me think of my wife. Only I ate this morning before coming to work…”

Cain scratched his dusty head with an awkward smile. But he couldn’t work on an empty stomach forever. After eating half of the sandwich Adrian gave him, he wrapped the rest carefully in a large leaf and tucked it into his tunic.

He intended to give it to his wife, who would be at home boiling a thin soup from a handful of flour to last several meals.

Watching this, Adrian felt a surge of guilt. He felt a deep apology toward the people living in the territory he would inherit—people who, far from eating their fill, couldn’t even make ends meet despite working themselves to the bone.

“Even if you aren’t starving right now because of your veteran’s compensation, don’t be too generous with your life’s blood. You have a family too. If the compassion you give to others could fill your own child’s belly instead, God won’t blame you for turning a blind eye to strangers.”

Adrian only gave a faint smile at Cain’s words. They were simple, but they pierced his heart.

“I will work harder. I’ll make sure no one goes hungry.”

“Aye, work with that spirit to feed your child. Seeing my kid and wife patting their full bellies with a grin is the greatest happiness there is.”

Having gained a profound realization from his labor, Adrian resolved to work even harder the moment he returned home. He locked away a wish in his heart that his people might hunger a little less in proportion to how hard he worked.

Despite the grueling labor, Adrian received a pittance for his daily wage and headed straight home.

“Welcome back. It was a hard day, wasn’t it? I’ve drawn water, so go wash up. My little prince, Daddy’s home. Go wash with him.”

“Ah! Daddy, welcome back! I was reading a book and couldn’t come out to meet you.”

Adrian smiled as he was greeted by Ramona, who put down her sewing, and Raon, who closed his book.

“Yes, I’m home. Raon, let’s go wash. Shall Toto wash with us?”

Toto, who hadn’t paid Adrian any mind even after his arrival, pretended to be asleep at his words. Adrian chuckled and went to bathe with Raon.

After washing away all the dust from the worksite, Adrian watched Raon while eating the meal Ramona had prepared. Seeing Raon eagerly eat the fish Ramona had deboned and placed on his rice made Adrian feel full without even eating.

“Do you like fish, Raon?”

“I like everything Mommy makes.”

Raon spoke with a bright smile and finished his bowl in no time. Adrian also polished off two bowls of rice with a single salty, grilled fish that was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

As Adrian patted his full belly with a relaxed expression of satiety, he suddenly remembered the day’s events and let out a low sigh.

“Did something happen at work today?”

“Pardon? Ah, well… most of the workers eat very little or fast during lunch. It weighs on my mind that they can’t eat their fill even while working.”

“Ah, it’s because it’s the spring lean season. It must be a strange sight for you, Raon’s father.”

Throughout the conversation with Ramona after the meal was cleared, Adrian’s heart remained heavy.

“They say even the King cannot solve poverty. So, do not blame yourself too much for not being able to fix it.”

“That may be so… but seeing it become a reality before my eyes brings a sense of helplessness. I never imagined I would be this incompetent.”

Born as the son of Duke Cassius and having only ever walked an elite path, Adrian lowered his head.

“Just the fact that you have such thoughts would make the people of the territory happy to know you are thinking of them.”

“What good does that do? I have nothing I can provide for them.”

“Well, if you want to do something for them, I would recommend you return to the Duke’s estate immediately.”

“Even if I return, I don’t see a clear solution.”

“Don’t try to solve everything at once; why not start small? The fact that you’ve had these thoughts will serve as the foundation for your future actions.”

Adrian nodded at Ramona’s words, though he didn’t seem to have any intention of returning to the estate just yet.

“If you were in my position, Ramona, what would you do? Please, say anything; I am listening with an open mind.”

The more he spoke with Ramona, the more he realized she was no simple country woman. Thus, he sought her opinion, no matter how trivial.

“How about increasing job opportunities? For example…”

As Adrian listened to Ramona, his posture straightened without him realizing it. With eyes more solemn than ever, as if receiving lessons from a master, he listened intently.

“I’ve listened well to your words, Ramona. They were wonderful. Did you perhaps learn this somewhere?”

“I wonder. I don’t remember.”

Before he could thank her again for her words, spoken with eyes so clear they seemed to prove she truly didn’t remember, there was a knock at the door.

“Who is it…?”

—Young Lord, it is Adiel.

Adrian opened the door immediately upon hearing the name. Adiel, dressed as impeccably as ever, bowed to Adrian and Ramona in turn before pulling out a letter.

As soon as Adrian read the contents of the letter, he crumpled it.

[If you do not come back immediately, I shall love you quite aggressively.]